Takter given 3-day suspension for Miller drive

The New Jersey Racing Commission judges at the Meadowlands have ruled that Jimmy Takter caused interference to Designed To Be while driving Scream And Shout in the Del Miller Memorial at the Meadowlands July 12. Takter was suspended for three days for the violation.

Takter's drive was scrutinized by the judges in a hearing last week. Following the race on July 12, there was immediate speculation that Takter had purposely tried to keep Designed To Be, driven by Brian Sears, from challenging the race leader Shake It Cerry, who Takter trained but who was driven by Ron Pierce. Shake It Cerry won the race. Designed To Be finished third while Scream And Shout finished ninth.

"We (the Meadowlands judges) called him to ask him specific questions about his drive, and we also watched the tapes of the race with him," said Meadowlands presiding judge John Tomasello in an interview with harnessracing.com. "After listening to his explanation of his drive and watching the tapes, we found him not to be in violation of the rule which pertains to an unsatisfactory drive. We did, however, find that he was guilty of interference just before the half when he allowed his horse to drift in and he put a wheel under Designed To Be."

Tomasello said he informed Takter of the ruling late Friday afternoon. Takter has 48 hours to appeal, if he chooses to do so. Tomasello also said that the policy of the New Jersey Racing Commission is that a suspension is typically assigned to be served within two weeks. He added that New Jersey has a rule that allows a suspended driver to compete in a paid-in event during the time of a suspension, but that another day gets added to the suspension.--By Kathy Parker